Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA) — Police have shot dead Rajen Sabapathee, a 40- year-old prison fugitive, in a shoot-out between the two parties.

The shooting took place on Friday at Chamarel, a small village in the south of the island.

Sabapathee, who was serving an 18-year prison term for drug trafficking from September 1995, ran away from La Bastille Prison on 31 July together with four other prisoners.

The latter were all captured a few weeks later.

Police suspected Sabapathee of having injured two people with a firearm last Saturday in Quatre-Bornes, 10 km south of Port Louis.

Sabapathee's wife, Sabitree, also accused of drug trafficking, left the country incognito while on bail on the day her husband was sentenced to prison.